Why this is significant is that the west is having a heck of a time trying to figure out what to do in Mali. No one wants to put boots on the ground (or air) because of the politics of such a move.

Meanwhile, the jihadists have control of the north and are ruling with an iron fist. They are also pouring into the country from other places in the Sahel to get ready for the coming military intervention by the west and it’s African partners. Whatever force goes in will not have it easy, and the jihadists will have had plenty of time to prepare the battlefield and plant IED’s all over the place.

So what do you do if you are not willing to ‘send in the troops’? Well France seems to have answered that question with the use of CAE. If the company has any comments about the services they are providing to France, I will add it below. Until then, here is a run down of the type of services they offer. –Matt

CAE-AVIATION is the European leader in intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance services (ISR). We provide a full turnkey air-to-ground surveillance and reconnaissance (AGSR) service at short notice for governmental and non-governmental organisations.
Our fully integrated ISR detection, observation, command and control systems gives to the local military, police or disaster relief commander “an eye in the sky” enabling him to use his strength and assets to maximum effect.
Selected by NATO, EU forces and many European ministries of defence and interior, CAE-AVIATION air-to-ground surveillance and reconnaissance AGSR services are maximizing intelligence collection while minimizing operational costs.
Image intelligence
CAE AVIATION supplies an autonomous intelligence capacity of image origin with highly qualified interpreters and analysts to provide the tasker with full reporting i.a.w NATO ATP-47a standard as well as geo-referencing and a complete IMINT database creation. “ISARD” and “CAE-Workshop”, two company developed softwares allows quick and efficient classification, analyze, and management. It is available for sale with the training of your own analyst as well as the training on different tools, from identification to reporting.